Monthly Archives: April 2015

COLOR

CHROMOGRAPHY: WRITING IN COLOR, Rowan University Art GalleryMelinda Steffy and Gerard Brown, Sketch for The Hours, 2014, colored pencil on paper.

The Text for Translation

Written by Jane Irish

“The task of the translator consists in finding that intended effect upon the language into which he is translating which produces the echo of the original.”—Walter Benjamin, The Task of the Translator, 1923 (translated by Harry Zohn)

Prelude:

I am an artist writing this essay. In my work, I try to practice openness, to travel eagerly through territories of another’s culture. By painting about Vietnam, France, and the United States resistance histories, I practice to rectify the problem with European-based training of art history and history in general. Looking at Brown and Steffy’s work takes me to some stories that I often repeat. They are my core experiences with translation.

I. Counterpoint

In 2008, I traveled for my first time to Vietnam. I was inspired by John Balaban’s Remembering Heaven’s Face and reading his poetry and his translations of Ca Dao Vietnamase folk poetry. Just after, I saw him speak in Philadelphia. He was in his 60s. Some people are connectors, and John is one of these. He is highly thought of, a sage, someone who has stuck with his subject matter.

I have looked up to him. In 1994, nearly 15 years before meeting John, Linh Dinh was another person I looked up to. He was a young poet and painter living in Philadelphia; he was rough-talking and tough on his feet. I had him to my studio long before I started on a Vietnam narrative. He liked my paintings that day in my studio; he thought I had moxie.

CHROMOGRAPHY: WRITING IN COLOR, Rowan University Art GalleryMelinda Steffy, Prelude in C Major (red), No. 1, 2013, watercolor on paper, based on music by J.S. Bach.

Both of these idols of mine went on to translate the poems of Vietnam’s favorite poet, Hồ Xuân Hương. John was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War but served in Vietnam with the Friends International Volunteer Services, first as a teacher, then saving burned children. Linh Dinh was born in Saigon in 1963 and in 1975 came to the U.S.

In 2010, I was visiting John Balaban in North Carolina. I had come to learn from the sage and to deliver a gift to him—a vase I had made with the collected Ca Dao poetry. When I arrived he was wearing a heart monitor, as he was in the midst of tests for a serious heart condition. I spent the evening learning about his days studying Mekong folk culture, his continued alliances with activists, and about Hồ Xuân Hương. The next morning, I learned how utterly emotional

the competition can become between translators. I mentioned Linh Dinh at the kitchen table and John flew into rage, heart monitor bleeping. They were both in the midst of working on the translating the same 18th century Vietnamese poetess. Returning home, I saw on many literature blogs that an ongoing insult fest was in high gear.

CHROMOGRAPHY: WRITING IN COLOR, Rowan University Art GalleryMelinda SteffyParallel Motion, No. 11, 2014, based on music by Béla Bartók.

II. Dissonance

There are three artists I visit in Hue, Vietnam: two twins (the Le Brothers, born in 1975 in Bình Trị Thiên) and one printmaker. They pick me up or have a student pick me up, and I ride on the back of a motorbike to a curatorial camp for a discussion of communist post modernism on a reclaimed French plantation. Or they send me on a boat trip up the Perfume River with a calligrapher and his family (wife, brother with Agent Orange disfigurement, father, grandfather, and student). In 2012, artist Phan Hai Bang invited me to work in his printmaking and bamboo papermaking studio in Hue, Vietnam. This was my third trip. On the first I had mused on finding motifs in dissident Vietnam Veterans’ literature. Then I traveled the poetry of Hồ Xuân Hương. Now I was intent on replacing right-wing myths with nuances. I was into serious iconography, combining images of monks and anti- war veterans, signifying a combination of spirituality and post traumatic stress disorder. The young artists working with Phan and me said, “You are killing he said, “a score!” His closest aesthetic hero/col-the monks,” which they found very funny.

III. Notation, with alertness after speaking with Gerard Brown and Melinda Steffy David Stearns and I were to go to the orchestra. He is a classical music critic. That evening we met for dinner, and later quickly stepped into his apartment so he could retrieve a Brahms score. His parlor had dim light, lots of upholstery and lamps, very French bohemian. As my eyes adjusted, what appeared to be floor-to-ceiling bookcases on three walls of the room became a multicolored grid of a smaller scale, made of thousands of CDs of classical music. I still want to paint that room.

David grabbed a large folio of sheet music from the back room and we walked to the Kimmel Center. In the dark of the theatre, he followed the large-scale score and wrote notes on his playbill. Soon after, David told me, “the score, it’s a blueprint.”Just now, I chat with my office neighbor at Penn, Bill Whitaker at the Architectural Archives. I asked him what a blueprint was, and no backstory given,he said, “a score!” His closest aesthetic hero/colleague, the landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, was solid on this idea—that a blueprint was time-based. “One doesn’t see a building or a garden like a photograph,” Bill said, “the architect’s blue drawing tells us the process by traveling through it.”

Coda: In visual art, knowing the backstory isn’t really necessary, it is more important to be completely present. But Brown and Steffy’s work embody a process supporting our journey; we can see how conceptualism is a way to travel through painting.

Jane Irish. A self-described history painter, Jane Irish has been making work on the theme of heroic resistance movements since 1998, building on her interest in using art to explore the concepts of social class and political art. She has exhibited her work in NewYork and Philadelphia since 1983. The recipient of many awards and fellowships, she received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her MFA from Queens College, CUNY.

CHROMOGRAPHY: WRITING IN COLOR, Rowan University Art GalleryGerard Brown, After Edith Wharton (In reality they all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world…), 2015, Digital print on Dibond.

About the Exhibition

‘Chromography’ examines the relationship between graphic communication and sound. Writing is an ancient and elegant system of recording the human voice, and it has spawned other systems for the notation of music and movement. Most of these systems are so successful they seem to achieve invisibility – we can imagine the ‘voice’ of the writer when we read a page, or ‘hear’ the music described in a score. The system of representation disappears into the thing being represented. The authority of these systems is unchallenged; it rests on communicating their messages ‘in black and white’.

CHROMOGRAPHY: WRITING IN COLOR, Rowan University Art GalleryGerard Brown, After Robert Smithson (Language should find itself in the physical world…), 2015, Digital print on Dibond.

‘Chromography’ insists on a place for color in the description of sound and music. This complicates the relationship between seeing and reading because colors bring associations along with them. Are they bright or dull? Warm or cool? In sunshine or shade? What does it mean that a piece of music is composed mostly reds, oranges and yellows?

What do we see when the letters are switched with color symbols? Could such changes reveal patterns that tell us something new about communication? Translation scholar Lawrence Venuti argues that the translator’s invisibility results in important decisions being hidden from view. By pushing back against the conventions of writing and musical notation and exploring the space that such actions open, we hope to learn more about the content we represent.

CHROMOGRAPHY: WRITING IN COLOR, Rowan University Art GalleryGerard BrownAfter Judith Butler (An active and sensate democracy requires that we learn how to read well…), 2015, four screen prints on paper

About the Artists

Gerard Brown, a writer and painter, is an Assistant Professor at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. His work explores how the mind moves from seeing to reading by concealing writing in patterns and color. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited at the Woodmere Art Museum, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, and the Icebox (all in Philadelphia), as well as Finlandia University Art Gallery (Michigan) and 5.4.7 Art Center (Kansas). He has also organized exhibits for the Center for Art in Wood (Philadelphia) and Hicks Art Center at Bucks County Community College.

Melinda Steffy, a visual artist and classically-trained musician from Philadelphia, has had artwork displayed across the Northeast and beyond, including the Icebox, the Hall at the Crane Arts Building, and Sam Quinn Gallery (Philadelphia); Delaware Center for Contemporary Art and Fringe Wilmington (Delaware); Lancaster Museum of Art and Villanova University (Pennsylvania); Finlandia University (Michigan); Micro Museum (New York); and Stamford Art Association (Connecticut). She is an artist member of InLiquid and a LEADERSHIP Philadelphia fellow. An accomplished musician, Steffy currently serves as Executive Director for the innovative music non-profit LiveConnections and sings with the Chestnut Street Singers.

This program is made possible in part with funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Additional funding was provided by The Vice Provost for the Arts Grant from Temple University, Philadelphia. Rowan University Art Gallery Westby Hall Rowan University call 856-256-4521 or visit www.rowan.edu/artgallery

Thank you Mary Salvante and Jane Irish for the content of this post on DoNArTNeWs

Mary Salvante is Curator, Gallery and Exhibitions Program Director Rowan University Art Gallery, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Westby Hall. Glassboro, NJ  08028
856.256.4521
salvante@rowan.edu

Rowan University Art Gallery is a premier cultural destination for the
Rowan University community and greater South Jersey region presenting the
work of professional contemporary artists.

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Red Bull

Red Bull Art of the Can

The Red Bull Art of Can Comes to Dilworth Plaza, Philadelphia

NATIONAL MULTI-MEDIUM ART COMPETITION COMES TO PHILADELPHIA’S DILWORTH PARK

Calling Artists of All Formats to Create for the 2015 Red Bull Art of Can  

PHILADELPHIA, PA. – What can a creative mind design and create, all starting with a can of Red Bull for inspiration?  Coming this fall, the landscape of Philadelphia’s Dilworth Park will be transformed into an interactive, digital and physical art gallery as the nationwide creative competition, Red Bull Art of Can, comes to the city known for it’s famed public art. Artists of varying formats and aspiring creatives from across the country are challenged to make a work of art inspired by a can of Red Bull.

Now through June 15th, submitted art can come in the form of all art disciplines including physical, and digital mediums. A selection will then be made by a panel of judges from the art community to be displayed at a special showcase at Dilworth Park in Center City Philadelphia.

Participants can submit to three categories in the 2015 competition:

  • “Physical Art”: A physical piece of art that uses the actual Red Bull Can as the primary material in the final work.
  • “Digital Displayed Art”:A work of art that can be displayed on a screen and includes a digital version of the Red Bull Can in the final piece.  We are not designating a specific format or genre.  Submissions could take the form of an animation, a digital short film, stop motion, or GIF. Essentially any displayed digital medium is fair game.
  • “Interactive Installation Art”:A piece of artwork that merges both the physical and digital world and uses the Red Bull Can as its primary source of inspiration.

Red Bull Art of the Can

The Red Bull Art of Can exhibition will run from October 1 through October 8, with a special public opening event the weekend of Oct 2 -3 at Dilworth Park.

For more information and to register your art, please visit www.redbullartofcan.com

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Photo Day

Philly Photo Day 2014

Philly Photo Day Outdoor Exhibition at Dilworth Park

  • Exhibition Walk Thru on Wednesday, June 3, 3:00 – 4:00 PM
  • Exhibition Dates: May – June, 2015

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Every October the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center (PPAC) invites everyone to take a picture anywhere in the city and submit their favorite for display with thousands of others. This spring all 1,903 photographs taken on Philly Photo Day 2014 will be on display at Dilworth Park, City Hall, Philadelphia.

The outdoor exhibition starts on the west side of Dilworth Park and continues through to the south end of the park. The exhibition will be on display from May – June 2015 and is presented by PNC Arts Alive.

PPAC will host an afternoon walk thru the outdoor exhibition with PPAC‘s Executive Director, Sarah Stolfa. Stolfa will highlight some of the most interesting and inspirational photographs on display as well as discuss the annual project and it’s plans for 2015 when Philly Photo Day will open up to residents in the Greater Philadelphia Area and all 11 counties on Friday, October 9, 2015Philly Photo Day is PPAC‘s largest annual event celebrating the arts, photography and the region itself.

PPAC will also unveil 40 billboards throughout the city displaying images from Philly Photo Day2014. Photographs will be displayed on the billboards from May 15 – June 15, 2015. The billboard portion is made possible by the support of Clear Channel Outdoor.

Philly Photo Day is a day of educational outreach and engagement when PPAC invites everyone in the city to take a photograph using a phone or camera.  The only restriction is that it is taken in Philadelphia on that day. PPAC then prints and hangs every single image for a vast exhibition presenting a reflection of Philadelphia from countless diverse lenses.

Philly Photo Day is a celebration of how ubiquitous photography has become in our daily lives,” said Sarah Stolfa, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center. “Thanks to the support of PNC Arts Alive and The National Endowment for the Arts, PPAC had a successful and record breaking Philly Photo Day, facilitating free workshops and access to photographic equipment at community centers throughout the city. On Philly Photo Day, everyone is a photographer.”

PNC Arts Alive and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation have generously provided support for Philly Photo Day at Dilworth Park.

About the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center

Philadelphia Photo Arts Center is a community hub for contemporary photography. Devoted to the study, practice and appreciation of photography, PPAC organizes innovative exhibitions, inspiring artist lectures, diverse educational offerings, and access to high-end digital equipment for the production of work.

www.philaphotoarts.org

About PNC Arts Alive

PNC Arts Alive is a multi-year initiative of the PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. The goal of PNC Arts Alive is to help area residents gain access to the arts and to help arts organizations expand and engage audiences. For more information visit www.pncartsalive.com.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org.

For more information please contact:

Grace Miller, Director’s Assistant grace@philaphotoarts.org

215-232-5678

www.philaphotoarts.org

Philly Photo Day 2014, DoN BrewerDoN Brewer, digital photo, Philly Photo Day 2014. Prints available at Philadelphia Photo Arts Center

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Roger Ricco

Roger Ricco, SAVERY GallerySAVERY Gallery is thrilled to announce the upcoming exhibition: Roger Ricco : Paintings & Photography showing in Philadelphia from Friday May 8th, through Sunday June 14, 2015. There will be a reception for the artist on Friday May 8th, from 6 to 9pm and an Artist’s Talk on Saturday May 23. SAVERY Gallery 319 N. 11th Street Philadelphia PA 19107 267-687-7769

Roger Ricco : Paintings & Photography features work that spans from 2008 until today. Large scale paintings on canvas interspersed with digitally captured photographs line the walls of the main gallery and a collection of smaller photographs from his Eclipse series is displayed in the adjoining annex gallery. Heavily influenced by nature, the subjects are: flora, rock, jungle, birds, grottoes, as well as geometry and celestial beings. The artist employs photographic reference images, movie stills, fabricated tabletop “sets” and manipulations of scale as starting points for his technical exploration.

The paintings use a carefully limited dark palette full of inky blacks, grays and silvery-greens, no doubt influenced by the Northern light that filters through the enormous wall of glass in the artist’s Woodstock home and studio. Splashes of pinks, purples and cobalt blue add a luminosity, and a surprising femininity. Many of the works in the Jungle Dreaming series are dyptichs, connecting lines from one canvas to the other. His subjects emerge from dark washes of background with energetic marks as lighter, more detailed and recognizable plants, animals and environments. The larger individual canvases (some as large as 48×48) are representations of natural formations, bodies of water and looming natural occurrences, devoid of any evidence of humans or animals. The work presents nature that has been framed or captured elsewhere first, then investigates, follows, manipulates and finds moments of illumination. An other-worldly quality reverberates throughout the work.

In Ricco’s photographs from the Eclipse series, the artist also uses a pared-down color palette combined with similarly thoughtful formal presentation to present a study of what appears to be celestial bodies. Using arranged objects, studio sets and digital processing, the artist created images that appear as if they could have been captured by high powered telescope, or conversely, electron microscope. Their gallery presentation as deeply rich and satiny prints framed without glass allow the viewer to experience an intimate connection to the work while at the same time conjuring large, grand, metaphysically challenging ideas.

Roger Ricco is an internationally recognized multi-disciplinary artist working in painting, photography and video who is based in NY. He has won the Rome Prize in painting, worked with Irving Penn, and currently co-owns and operates Ricco-Maresca Gallery in New York City which represents the work of world-renowned Outsider Artists. He is a leading expert and multi-published author on Outsider Art.

Recently, he has exhibited with: KM Fine Arts, Los Angeles, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont NY, Castell Gallery, Asheville, NC Mr. Ricco has also been faculty at School of Visual Arts in NYC in the Art History department and has lectured at Yale University, Bard College, Museum of American Folk Art, Cooper Union, and Zen Mountain Monastery among others.

For further questions, press inquiries, or images please contact Tory Savery: 267-687-7769 or 610-547-8434 gallery@saverydesign.com www.saverygallery.com

Roger Ricco, SAVERY GalleryRoger Ricco : Paintings & Photography May 8th, through Sunday June 14, 2015. Reception for the artist on Friday May 8th, from 6:00 to 9:00pm and an Artist’s Talk on Saturday May 23.

SAVERY Gallery 319 N. 11th Street Philadelphia PA 19107 267-687-7769

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Oils

152nd Oils, Maria Kurtzman152nd Small Oil Painting Juried Show,Philadelphia Sketch Club, Maria KurtzmanWinter Quadriptych, 2015 SOS Best in Show, Oil

152nd Small Oil Painting Juried Show, Philadelphia Sketch Club

Please join us at the historic Philadelphia Sketch Club for an opening reception . Free and open to the public. 152nd Small Oil Painting Juried Show – April 17 – May 9, 2015

152nd Small Oil Painting Juried Show is an open, juried competition for paintings where the principal medium is oil paint, acrylic, casein, tempera or other mediums used to represent oil painting. This is not a works on paper or water medium exhibition, although oil on paper is acceptable. Maximum size for any one dimension is 20″ (excluding frame).

Maria Kurtzman‘s professional career started as a practicing physician in internal medicine.  She attended Washington University undergraduate and Medical School. She comes from a family of professional artists and has had a lifelong passion for art. She is married and the mother of three grown sons. Maria has studied with Frances Galante, Jon Redmond, Paul DuSold, Stefanie Lieberman, and the faculty at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.” – Maria Kurtzman

Philadelphia Sketch Club is America’s oldest club for artists. Since 1860 the PSC has served as a meeting place, forum for ideas, and a vital bridge between the creators and supporters of contemporary art. Past luminaries have included such American masters as Eakins and Anshutz. Present luminaries could include you.

152nd Oils, DoN Brewer152nd Small Oil Painting Juried ShowPhiladelphia Sketch Club, DoN Brewer, Camp Oneida, oil on canvas, 12″ x 12″

My only entry was accepted, Camp Oneida was painted entirely plein air last summer while camping in the Endless Mountains. I was able to paint at the same time each day for three days and leave the easel set up all day. When it was time to pack up the camp site the easel was the last thing I put away.

Read my review of 152nd Small Oil Painting Juried ShowPhiladelphia Sketch Club on DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog

Philadelphia Sketch Club 235 South Camac St. Philadelphia, PA 19107  215-545-9298

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